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Friday, April 27, 2012

We've been doing this for years, and there are mostly likely some of you out there that have as well, but for others, you may have never really thought of it, so...

I'm posting this.

First of all though, lemme tell you about our firepit.

(Firefox doesn't like that word. Is it firepit? or fire pit?. Oh grammar, you are so full of riddles.)

Late last Spring, we threw together a firepit with scrap lumber, cinder blocks, and a very sad old picnic table for the Bean's 14th birthday party.

We used it so much, that the Hubs decided to fix it up this year. He's still going to add lighting, but I'm going to show you the after.

Our house sits on a hill, we have a small backyard, and then a huge expanse (about an acre) down the hill about 40 feet. Hubs built retaining walls and a staircase down to that part of the yard. It's cool. I have no photos taken, and it's dark now, so... you'll have to, as John Lennon said, imagine.

We call it the 'back back yard' or 'down in the dip' (which is not exactly a romantic name for it, and it makes me sad, because it's very pretty and park like, however... habits are habits are habits).

Long story short, or long story long, in this case, that is where the firepit is.
I love it down there because there's no smoke billowing into the house, like with the one we had prior to this one. It was right outside the backdoor.

Smokey. Robinson. Yes it was.

Here is the result of his handiwork this year

Huge improvement!

(Please ignore the tree across the creek that washed up with the flooding rains last year. Um...yeah.)

So, tonight was our initiation of the new firepit area.

I love my big tables for sitting out all the food. It will be great for parties!

We have a house cat who likes to come outside when he can. The Bean brought him down tonight.

Meet Fairley Bueller. Yes, for real.

He was not a huge fan of the smoke.

AT ALL.

He soon wandered off to a less eye watering area.

Oh, yeah, I'm getting to the s'mores.

In this post, you'll read about how the Bean is a big fan of the Reese's S'more, and you can see in the photo above, he again chose the peanut butter goodness.

For the Chocolate Chip Cookie S'mores here, we start out with baking up the Best Chocolate Chip Cookies Evah. (I made mine last night.) Then toast up your marshmallows and top...

with the traditional chocolate...

or, like the Bean, with Reeese's Cups, plop on the mallow, and cover with a second cookie and...

you'll get a big ole bite of delight!

Chewy, gooey, melty goodness.

It's so worth the sticky fingers.

By the way, I would just like to thank the Bean for being such a lovely hand model.

Friday, April 20, 2012

The Bean loves cookie dough. Like, crazy loves. The fact that it has raw eggs in it does nothing to stop him begging like a stray dog.

I first made these a couple years ago, and they were met with lukewarm reception, so I'd never made them again.

My BPIC (Baking Partner in Crime, Lori) and I were doing a bake sale at our kid's high school to raise money for a new, and sorely needed, mascot costume, I thought I'd try them again.

Kids, they like cookie dough.

Lori made her Oreo Cupcakes, which are quite like these, but she uses more cookies in the batter, and then, after they are cooled, fills them with a plain buttercream, then tops with an Oreo buttercream (lots of finely crushed cookies in buttercream). They sold like holy friggin hotcakes! I did my Cream Filled Cuppies along with a few downsized Double Trouble Cookies (because the ones in the recipe are HUGE). We nearly sold out and made a nice little bit for our mascot fund.

Lemme tell you about the mascot.

You know how they make fun of mascot costumes on TV/Movies, because they smell bad and no one wants to wear them? That.Is.Ours. It's super gross. Like SUPER GROSS. ALL CAPS. It's the same one that was at the school 20, ahem, a FEW years ago when I was in high school (that sounded convincing, right? RIGHT???!). So, it stays in the closet. No one wears it. We are mascotless. It's sad. Mascot costumes are SPENDY. Like, WOW, spendy. We are working on it though. We'll have a non vomit smell radiating suit before you know it. We're determined.

Maybe I shouldn't have said vomit in a food post.

Hmm...

Oh, well.

Now, cookie dough.

So, here's the dealio. I followed, for the most part, this recipe by Recipe Girl.

You'll need to make a cookie dough batter, I love hers, it's egg-less. The Bean was quite certain I should just sell balls of cookie dough at the Bake Sale.

Uh, that didn't happen, but it DID, however, give me a devious plan for later on this blog.

Saturday, April 7, 2012

Does that make me a bad person? Or does that make me eccentric? I like the sounds of that.

All my people love Harry Potter. My niece (18 yr old) and I were the first. She started reading them at the ripe old age of 8. Then I started to read them to the Bean. Somewhere along the lines, my younger (16) niece took a liking.

Probably peer pressure. You know, from family.

My older brother refused to read them. Or watch the movies. He, being an older brother, liked to make fun of me for my nerdlike tendencies. He called poor Harry names.

So rude.

Then he was down for a few months with his (I'm not sure at this rate, he's had so many) 4th back surgery.

And he was bored.

Harry Potter books, well, they are fatties. They'll keep you entertained for weeks.

Bakingdom is one of my favorite sites to stalk, Darla is a geek too, and a majorly talented one!

Kristan made her frogs with a fluffy (green!) marshmallow filling, and while, I'm sure that is good (and I will be trying it), the Bean's fav is chocolate and peanut butter. If you could see his Easter Basket, you'd recommend I buy stock in Reeses.

So chocolate peanut butter frogs it was.

I like how my salsa dish looks like a lil cauldron.

Want to see the middle?

Since last night, Bean has eaten three. And BEGGED for more.

It's possible that he likes them.

I like to give the nieces and nephew a little something when they come over, but I know that they've got loaded baskets at home, so, just a wee little treat from me.

In honor of my Manga/Anime obsessed nieces, they are getting little Take Out boxes.

The baggie in the back is the chocolate frog.

I bagged them all up quickly to keep the Bean's grubby paws off.

It had to be done.

Happy Easter! May you be blessed with good food, good company, and good candy.

*I used Skippy Natural Peanut Butter, which I believe has less sugar to start with. You may want to start with 3 Tablespoons brown sugar and taste from there.

In a bowl, mix the sugar into the peanut butter. Add in the water.

Microwave for about 30 seconds. Then stir well.

It should be slightly runny. Set aside while you prepare molds.

Melt chocoalte according to package instructions. Place a couple spoonfuls into the frog mold. Using a brush that you have reserved for food use only, work the chocolate into the mold. Place into the refrigerator for about 10 minutes.Remove molds, fill to nearly the top with the peanut butter filling. Reserve a small bit of room to cover the peanut butter mixture with chocolate. Place in refrigerator again. Allow to chill completely before removing your frogs onto a serving plate.

Wednesday, April 4, 2012

You see, I thought I'd invented these! I was standing at the kitchen counter washing berries while contemplating if I was smarts enough to come up with a new Easter post, when WHAMO, idea.

I don't know if you know this, but strawberries have the little green leafies at the top. (That's the scientific name, look it up). Carrots? Well, by golly gosh darn, THEY have the little leafies at the top.

Hmmmmmm.... If I had some orange tinted chocolate, I'd be in bizzznezz.

Guess what! I did. Well, I had white chocolate and candy coloring, but folks, semantics.

I set to work, thinking, alas, my readers will think I'm SO clever!

They will oooooh and ahhhhhh.. and they will reply and email me, and share my blog, and Pin my things to Pinterest!

And my life will be changed....

By Carrot Berries!!!!!!!!!!!

YUS.

Ok, maybe I didn't think all that. Or maybe I did. You'll never know.

So, I berried away.

They are cute, yes. I am proud.

Clever Tina.

After finishing, I sit down to post, and think... I should consult the Google Machine.

Google says to me, "Bahahahaha... Tina, you LOSE! Someone smarter than you, prettier than you, skinnier than you, and all together better than you has already made these".

Google, I thought you were my friend, why are you so mean?

I found them in a few places, not many, but a few, this was the first Google return.

After I wiped my tears, I pulled up my big girl panties and soldiered on.

Well, Fred and George, as you know, if you've read the books or watched the movies, started up a joke shop called Weasley's Wizard Wheezes. In Goblet of Fire, while not shown in the movie, they 'dropped' a sweet that Dudley quickly snapped up. It was a Ton Tongue Toffee. It made Dudley's tongue swell to 4 feet long before Vernon and Petunia would allow Arthur to shrink it.

I promise these won't make your tongue swell, but the Ton Tongue Toffees were definitely the inspiration behind this cupcake.

Here's what we do:

Bake and cool yellow cupcakes and set aside.

In a saucepan or skillet, melt one stick of butter, whisk while melting.

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Just a small town girl, livin' in a lonely world... She took the Hogwarts train goin' anywhere.
Thanks for visiting http://sugarbeanbakers.com, my little spot on the web. I hope you'll find yummy recipes, fun ideas, and enjoyable party plans!

I am back from my travels to Wizarding London. Ok, fine, it was Universal Orlando, whatever, you dream crusher! If ...

copyright 2010-2016 Sugar Bean Bakers

I write this blog for my own personal enjoyment and for anyone else out there who may enjoy it as well. I make no guarantees that you will like the recipes as I do.

I am not responsible for any ruined product or typos within my recipes. I am not responsible for any injuries you may get while in the kitchen. I am not responsible if your cat trips you while you are baking muffins. Or if you are abducted by aliens. Just saying...

I am not compensated by any company or product. These are just my ramblings and opinions.

All photos, ideas, and recipes, unless otherwise noted, are copyright Tina Chambers. All Rights Reserved. Please do not use without permission. For permission write sugarbeanbakers at gmail dot com

Some recipes are my own. Otherwise, I try to always credit original authors of recipes if I know them.